2026-07-24 シカゴ大学
＜関連情報＞
- https://news.uchicago.edu/story/new-method-boosts-crop-yield-and-drought-resistance-using-plants-own-genes
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-026-02685-w
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-021-00982-9
内在的に無秩序な領域は、哺乳類および植物におけるRNAおよびヒストン脱メチル化酵素のゲノム標的化を抑制する Intrinsically disordered regions restrain genomic targeting of RNA and histone demethylases in mammals and plants
Liudan Jiang,Long Zhao,Jiangbo Wei,Bochen Jiang,Yu Xiao,Fan Yang,Xiaolin Zeng & Chuan He
Nature Genetics Published:23 July 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-026-02685-w
Abstract
Intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) are widely recognized as facilitators of chromatin regulation. However, their potential role as regulatory restraints remains poorly understood. Here we reveal that the C-terminal IDR of mammalian ALKBH5 anchors its main activity to mRNA, limiting chromatin engagement in mouse embryonic stem cells. IDR deletion redirects ALKBH5 to chromatin-associated noncoding RNAs, driving widespread chromatin opening and transcriptional activation. This mechanism extends to histone demethylases, where IDR deletion also results in broad removal of repressive histone marks, leading to increased chromatin accessibility and activation of transposable elements. Building on these insights, we applied IDR deletion to engineer ALKBH5 and its plant homologs. Overexpression of these IDR-deleted ALKBH5 demethylases enhanced Arabidopsis root growth and markedly increased rice yield. Our findings uncover a conserved role for IDRs in restraining chromatin access by RNA and histone demethylases and establish a strategy to reprogram chromatin through endogenous plant proteins for crop improvement.
RNA脱メチル化は、圃場試験においてイネとジャガイモの収量とバイオマスを増加させる RNA demethylation increases the yield and biomass of rice and potato plants in field trials
Qiong Yu,Shun Liu,Lu Yu,Yu Xiao,Shasha Zhang,Xueping Wang,Yingying Xu,Hong Yu,Yulong Li,Junbo Yang,Jun Tang,Hong-Chao Duan,Lian-Huan Wei,Haiyan Zhang,Jiangbo Wei,Qian Tang,Chunling Wang,Wutong Zhang,Ye Wang,Peizhe Song,Qiang Lu,Wei Zhang,Shunqing Dong,Baoan Song,… Guifang Jia
Nature Biotechnology Published:22 July 2021
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-021-00982-9
Abstract
RNA N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modifications are essential in plants. Here, we show that transgenic expression of the human RNA demethylase FTO in rice caused a more than threefold increase in grain yield under greenhouse conditions. In field trials, transgenic expression of FTO in rice and potato caused ~50% increases in yield and biomass. We demonstrate that the presence of FTO stimulates root meristem cell proliferation and tiller bud formation and promotes photosynthetic efficiency and drought tolerance but has no effect on mature cell size, shoot meristem cell proliferation, root diameter, plant height or ploidy. FTO mediates substantial m6A demethylation (around 7% of demethylation in poly(A) RNA and around 35% decrease of m6A in non-ribosomal nuclear RNA) in plant RNA, inducing chromatin openness and transcriptional activation. Therefore, modulation of plant RNA m6A methylation is a promising strategy to dramatically improve plant growth and crop yield.
